Turn Your Back, Look Away and Just Keep Running
by WelcomeToTheAnimeParade
Summary: Set in a dystopian future, a species of genetically modified humanoid creatures called Devilmen have appeared. Five strangers are selected to join an organisation created to stop these Devilmen called the Anti-Devilman Organisation. Will this mis-matched group of strangers be able to put their faith in each other and save the world from being taken over?
1. Welcome To The ADO

Turn Your Back, Look Away and Just Keep Running.

Chapter 1: Welcome to the A.D.O

* * *

"Lucy Heartfilia, sir. Age 19. Citizen #2657 of the Sabertooth Area."

"Erza Scarlet, sir. Age 23. Citizen #4789 of the Mermaid Heel Area."

"Gray Fullbuster, sir. Age 21. Citizen #510 of the Phantom Lord Area."

"Wendy Marvel, sir. Age 16. Citizen #1357 of the Lamia Scale Area."

"Natsu Dragneel, sir. Age 20. Citizen #777 of the Fairy Tail Area."

So we all said going down the line as an introduction to our new boss, who we were to simply call either 'sir' or 'Commander'. We all held up our Citizen ID cards as we spoke, as if to reinforce our words. After all, you never know who could be lying. Who will have your back and who will stab it? You'll never know until it's too late.

I'm Lucy Heartfilia, just in case you're wondering. And I'm standing here rigidly in a line in a underground dormitory with four other people, four other strangers, who are _supposed_ to become my comrades. Who I'm _supposed_ to immediately trust with my life.

Yeah right.

Now, I'm no lie detector but I don't trust that easily. Especially in this world. This goes without saying in any situation, but you gotta earn your way in this world. Whether it be money, power or awards. Or the trivial things that everyone takes for granted like friendship, camaraderie, respect and trust.

The things that can be snatched away from you before you know it. Take my word for it. I know.

I think you get the point though. And I don't want to babble on about the small things when there's a story to be told.

So, without further ado, I'm gonna tell it.

While the Commander introduced himself and some very stern, official-looking individuals to our little group, I took it as an opportunity to study them closely. According to the Commander, one of each of these people would be assigned to us as a 'mentor' of sorts.

This could go very well or very wrong.

The Commander started pacing in a kind of linear movement, eyeing us all and blabbed on about other things that I firmly believe none of us really gave a shit about, then finally got onto the things I wanted to know about. He stopped pacing and stopped in the middle, giving us all one final look before talking. I think he must have been studying us thoroughly, deciding if we were to be trusted or not, sizing us up by our body language and the looks in our eyes. I stared him dead in the eye, trying to conceal any emotions I might've been displaying before. Then, he got onto the important stuff.

"I assume all of you are wondering why you were brought here. And before I reveal too much information, I must lay down some rules. Under no circumstances should you ever tell anyone where you are, who you're with and why you're here. Revealing information to outsiders is grounds for immediate execution. It puts not only you, but this whole organisation in jeopardy. Also, whatever orders I, or your mentors, give you are to be followed with no exceptions. Disobedience or betrayal is punishable by labour or starvation. Escaping or running away is not an option, and we will be forced to kill you if you do so. You will be permitted to leave the organisation if you wish to do so after your final mission. If you wish to stay with the organisation, you may do that as well. The five of you are essential to the following missions, so rest assured you will all be paid a hefty wage for your hard work. And one last thing," the Commander stopped there, his face growing even more serious than before, if that was possible, "the world out there is not the one you have been sheltered from your entire lives. It is a battlefield, a hell-on-earth where bloodshed is an inevitable, everyday occurrence. The missions you will be asked to complete as a team will require you to face this world head-on. Death is not a million miles away. Only the strongest will survive. Still, are you prepared to follow through?"

With that, he looked at us and waited for a response.

"Yes, sir!" all five of us barked back at him simultaneously. He nodded at us, and started to speak again.

"That's that, then. After this, there's no turning back," he paused, before speaking in a much-less-serious tone, "for just over half a century now, we have been selecting 5 people whose family have a history with combat every five years, and we train them for a year, in order to complete several different missions over the course of the remaining four years they serve here. All of these missions require you to work as a team to survive, so when I leave I want you to choose a team captain. Your mentors will guide you through training and your first real mission, but after that you're on your own. All of the missions that you will do will lead up to your final mission at the end of the five years. The final mission is the same every year, but we will not reveal it to you yet. The reason that the final mission is always the same is because nobody has ever completed it yet. They all died either before or during the mission. We're hoping that this time, that won't be the case."

I could hear the man beside me gulp in fear. I half wanted to laugh, but I half felt sorry for him too.

"Now, are there any questions before I leave you to your own devices?" the Commander asked, looking around. The teenage girl in the middle raised her hand and spoke. She looked terrified at the prospect of speaking to the Commander, but she cleared her throat and talked in a clear voice.

"I was unaware that my family had a history of combat. Would you mind explaining it to me?" she asked. Come to think of it, I didn't know my family had a history of combat too. The Commander, to my surprise, smiled at her.

"I'm afraid I cannot reveal that to you myself. It's not in my place to do so. However, I can assure you that you will find out along the way," he answered her, before turning back to face us.

"Any more questions?"

The man to my right raised his hand.

"I apologise if this seems like a silly question, but what is this organisation called?" he inquired. If you ask me, it wasn't a silly question at all considering the Commander had never bothered to provide us with that information. The Commander shook his head apologetically.

"Don't apologise. I was the one who forget to tell you. This facility is called the A.D.O. The Anti-Devilman Organisation."

Before I continue, I should probably explain what the Commander is talking about. 60 years ago, in the year 2140, these genetically modified humanoid animals named Devilmen began to appear. Or at least they are assumed to be animals. Nobody knows what animal specifically, but it's definitely a dangerous one, that much I can tell you.

Over that past six decades, these Devilmen have been at war with us humans. They grow in population by turning people into one of them, much like zombies. Only instead of eating their brains they eat their hearts.

Several full-scale wars have taken place at different parts of the world. The world is no longer divided into countries, but areas. Other than that, the world works in much the same way as the past. The politics are the same. Each area has its own army.

But things will never be the same as they were in the past again.

On with the story.

"Any more questions?" the Commander asked. Nobody said a word.

"Very well. I'll leave you all to get settled in, to get to know your mentors and to get to know each other. Dinner will be served at 5:00pm sharp. Your mentors will show you where the canteen is. Training will be at the crack of dawn tomorrow."

And with that, the Commander left the room.

* * *

We all looked at each other once the door shut behind him. Being in a room full of complete strangers was definitely not my idea of fun. The awkwardness became too much to handle, so after what felt like a lifetime one of the mentors finally spoke.

"I suppose we should introduce ourselves. My name is Ur Milkovich. I will be mentoring…" she paused, looking down at a sheet of information, "Gray Fullbuster."

A man with dark raven-black hair and darkish blue eyes stepped forward with a rather confident, almost cocky, smile. He stuck out his hand to his mentor, who shook it.

"Nice to meet you," he said simply. Then, the next mentor stepped forward.

"Where is Erza Scarlet?" he asked, looking around at us. The woman beside me took a step towards him and shook his hand.

"I am. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. My name is Jellal Fernandes and I'll be your mentor," he replied. He had a blush on his face for some reason. I followed his gaze as he looked down and realised he was staring at her boobs.

What a perv. Glad I wasn't stuck with him.

One by one, we all introduced ourselves to our mentors. The teenage girl, whose name was Wendy Marvell had a female mentor named Grandine Porlyusica. The man beside me, who had asked what he thought was a stupid question, was called Natsu Dragneel and his mentor was called Igneel Zeref.

Finally, I was the only one left to meet my mentor. I studied her carefully. She was pretty, and seemed like the girly type. I hoped to whatever higher power was up there that she wasn't a total weakling. She smiled brightly at me, and infectious smile that I was forced to half-heartedly return.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm your mentor, Mirajane Strauss," she said, shaking my hand enthusiastically whilst I tried unsuccessfully to withdraw mine form her grasp.

"It's nice to meet you too," I replied, "the name's Lucy Heartfilia."

We all spent some time talking to our mentors. They told us stories of some of the missions they had been on, how hard or easy some of them were, what training was going to be like and how they would all try their hardest to help us.

I wasn't convinced just yet, but I faked it and pretended like we were already BFF's.

After a while the mentors left, saying something about having to attend some kind of meeting and that they would come back for us just before dinner to take us to the canteen. The door shut behind them quietly.

And, just like that, we were all left to get to know each other.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys!**

 **I'm back again with a brand new story! I have no idea how this idea came to me, but I think the concept is interesting, and I'm really excited to write more for it. I hope you all will join me on this journey! I plan to really focus on this story, so I may not update any others for another while. I'll do my best, but I'm going back to school on Thursday so that might be an issue.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to hearing your response!**

 **Until next time, ja ne!**


	2. Training Begins

Chapter 2: Training Begins

* * *

Now, if there's one thing I dislike doing the most it's trying not to burst out laughing in an awkward silence. I'm sure some of you could relate, right? I tried to keep the same rock-solid, emotionless expression on my face but it was rather hard when five strangers were staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity without anyone even uttering some form of sound.

Then again, it could be that these people were trying to size each other up. It got me thinking about these people and the lives they might have lived before we were all sent here to be intentionally put into life-or-death situations.

I hate having to break the silence and have all the attention drawn onto me as much as the next guy, but it's gotta be done sooner or later. If not, I might've just burst in to a giggling mess, unable to stop laughing for about ten minutes straight. However, just as I opened my mouth to speak, a small voice piped up beside me.

"U-um, it's n-n-nice to meet you. I-I'm W-Wendy Marvell."

We all looked down at the teenage girl, who happened to be the owner of the squeaky, stuttering voice. I recall her stating she was sixteen years old, but she looked about twelve. She was short, and well… let's say 'under-developed'. She fiddled with her hands and stared at the floor as we all looked at her. Her long, blue hair almost covered her face, but if you looked closely you could see her face had gone bright red.

Looking at how shy this kid was, I felt quite bad for her. She was only sixteen yet she was being thrown into this horrible warzone in just a year's time. It may seem hypocritical considering how I'm only three years older than her, but let's not worry about the trivial details for now. Again, I opened my mouth to speak, but again I was interrupted by another person. This time it was a woman who had dark, red hair and brown eyes. I believe her name was Erza Scarlet.

Hah. Fitting, considering the colour of her hair. She smiled gently at Wendy.

"It's nice to meet you too, Wendy. My name is Erza Scarlet," she said in a clear, pleasant tone. She looked like she could be the potential mother-hen of the group. Sweet and caring, but terrifying if you ever did something she didn't approve of.

The thought almost made me burst out laughing.

The next one to introduce himself the man with dark, black hair and the cocky smile. He introduced himself as Gray Fullbuster. To me, the confidence was either a mask or he was just really full of himself. I sincerely hoped it was not the latter, otherwise this would be a looong five years.

Then there was Natsu Dragneel, who, funnily enough, had pink hair. I wasn't sure whether it was his natural hair colour or if his hair was just dyed. It actually suited him though. He seemed like he might be good fun, although maybe a bit of an airhead. He was probably the type to rush headstrong into any situation and get everyone, including himself, injured or at the very worst killed.

Because of _course_ we need somebody like that on our team.

I must admit though, both of the boys were very easy on the eyes.

Finally, I was the only one left to introduce myself to the group. I wondered for a few seconds how I should play this. Should I go confident like Gray? Sweet like Erza? Shy like Wendy?

Then I decided I would just be myself. I faced everyone, who were looking at me expectantly.

"Lucy Heartfilia. Pleased to meet you," was all I said, sticking my hands in my pockets.

After finally introducing ourselves, we spent some time talking a little about our backgrounds, though I was careful not to reveal too much about myself. I just mentioned about my parents and whereabouts I lived

You can say I have trust issues all you want. Go ahead. I've heard it all before. But I'm just being cautious. Don't forget I only just met these people.

Then we began talking about training, what it might be like, and what our mentors were like. I was caught by surprise about how quickly everyone got along. I wasn't sure about trusting them just yet, but I definitely enjoyed talking to them.

Suddenly, we heard the ringing of a bell, which I assumed was the dinner bell. Our mentors walked into the bedroom, and we all walked out in twos. Mirajane greeted me with a bright smile as we walked out of the room.

"So, Lucy, what do you think of your new teammates?" she asked me in her cheery, high-pitched voice.

"They seem like good people, although it's too early for me to pass judgement yet," I answered.

"You'll soon learn to trust them. You have to spend five years with them after all!" she laughed, as we arrived at the canteen.

* * *

Meals at a super-secret government spy/military organisation aren't exactly what I would call 'edible'. I sat down at a table with the rest of the gang, scooped up a large lump of-whatever it was- and let it slide down back onto my plate. I screwed up my face in disgust as it hit my plate, wobbling slightly as it made impact.

"What _is_ this?" I asked, completely grossed out by the contents of my plate.

"Some form of inedible gruel," Gray answered, also looking rather disgusted at the plate of food before him.

"Stop complaining and eat up, you two," Erza said, tucking in. She winced as she chewed the substance, but kept eating. Gray and I smirked.

After dinner was over we all went back to the dorm and relaxed. Relaxing after what? I have no idea.

Maybe attempting to not puke after eating that… stuff.

Curfew, from what I remember, was ten o'clock. It made sense considering we had to be up at about six o'clock every morning, so I had no complaints. Neither did the rest of the team.

I tumbled into bed when ten o'clock came, but I couldn't sleep for ages.

What would tomorrow hold?

* * *

Getting up at the crack of dawn was definitely on my list of things I would need to get used to. We were given ten minutes to get dressed and washed, in which I learned that splashing water all over your face wasn't always effective in waking you up. Then we followed our mentors out to a field, yawning the whole way. Holding in my yawns in front of the Commander was a difficult task, but I somehow managed using all my will power.

"Good Morning, everyone," the Commander said in his ever-serious tone.

"Good morning, sir," we chorused back at him simultaneously.

"Because this is your very first training session, we will not go too hard on you. You will each be assessed today on your physical ability in order for us to get an idea of how much we must train you individually and how you'll be able to handle our training regimen. These assessments, keep in mind, will be held every three months in order for us to see how you are keeping up. Training is not just all physical. Today, we will also be assessing you on your mental ability and common sense. The missions you will be sent on next year will not only require physical strength, but tactics too. Later on into your training, once you've built up some form of bond with each other we will testing your teamwork skills, so be mindful of that information also. Any questions before we begin?"

The Commander looked around, but nobody spoke. He nodded.

"Very well. Without further ado, let's begin. Your mentors will warm you up, and then you we will have you complete an assault course for your test. First up will be Erza Scarlet," the Commander looked over at Erza as he said this, who nodded back at him with a determined look on her face.

Mirajane came over to me, wearing a hot pink tracksuit and explained the warm-up to me. It was simply jogging on the spot until she blew her whistle, then switching to push-ups until she blew her whistle. Rinse and repeat. Simple.

Or not.

It took me a good fifteen minutes to realise how unfit I was, and that was only doing a simple warm-up. I just hope I could build up enough energy to do this course.

The next warm-up was sprinting to one line, doing ten jumping jacks, sprinting to the next line down the field, doing another ten jumping jacks, sprinting down to the final line, doing more jumping jacks the sprinting all the way back up to the start.

I was already exhausted, and these were just the warm-ups. Good God, I was never gonna survive this training. Thank god for the mental assessments. I was a lot smarter than I was strong.

Finally, we stretched. It was the simple, routine stretches, the ones you would normally do after gym class in school or something.

I was given a chance to relax for a bit whilst Erza, Gray and Natsu did their physical tests. The Commander had decided to run the tests in ascending order of age, so I was the second-last one to go.

Erza started off really strong, and continued with that throughout the whole course. She ducked, dodged, swerved and conquered several obstacles like it was nothing. Impressive.

Gray was much the same as Erza when he did his. I started to fell rather envious of their physical ability, especially since I was so unfit. I started to really hope I would do well on the mental exam, so I could at least say I could be of some use to the team.

It was Natsu, surprisingly, who was the best by far. His agility and physical strength had us all staring at him in silent awe. Even the serious, emotionless Commander looked impressed as he wrote down Natsu's time on his clipboard. Then he beckoned me over and pointed to the start line.

I took a deep breath and tried to convert my nervous energy into adrenaline as I approached the start line. The Commander blew his whistle and started the timer.

I think you already know where this is going, but I was a hot mess.

I stumbled and fumbled my way through the course. I kept almost tripping over my own feet and bumping into to random things. When I finally finished and rejoined the group, Natsu started to laugh at me. I bonked his head and Erza glared at him.

Finally, it was Wendy's turn. Surprisingly enough she was very agile, which I guessed was due to her size. However, she was quite slow which didn't really do her any favours. After we had all finished, the Commander came up to us.

"That concludes your physical exams. You all did quite well, although, to be frank, some of you did better than others," he told us, "We will be using your times to make up a training schedule and regimen for each of you, which you will receive tomorrow. You may all go inside now and take a fifteen-minute break before your mental exam begins."

With that, we all went inside and into the dorm.

"How do you guys think you did?" Natsu said, flopping onto his bed when we went into the room.

"Horrible," I said immediately.

"I did too," Wendy agreed.

"I think I did okay. Not my best, but okay," Erza said, whildt Gray nodded in agreement.

"Same here."

After talking for a little while longer, our mentors came in and said that they would take us to the study, where we would be given a test on mathematics and common sense. We followed them out of the door and into the exam room.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys!**

 **OMFG TWO CHAPTERS IN TWO DAYS WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME XD I forgot what it feels like to not have writer's block. Feels awesome!**

 **Read, review, favourite and look forward to chapter three!**

 **Until next time, ja ne!**


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